USDA: Scattered Showers Falling in Western Corn Belt

USDA's Joint Ag Weather Facilitysays in the Corn Belt, favorably cooler air is starting to arrive, following Tuesday's heat that featured highs of 100° to 105°F in locations such as Omaha, Nebraska, and Sedalia, Missouri. "In addition, scattered but highly beneficial showers and thunderstorms are overspreading the western Corn Belt," USDA adds.

On the Plains, cooler air is overspreading some eastern areas, including the Dakotas and eastern Nebraska, but hot conditions persist across the remainder of the nation's mid-section, according to USDA. "A few showers dot the southern and eastern Plains, but most of the region remains extremely dry," USDA adds.

In the South, USDA says locally heavy showers linger in the southern Atlantic states, current home to some of the nation's healthiest pastures. "On Aug. 5, Florida led the nation with more than three-quarters (78%) of its pastureland rated in good to excellent condition," USDA elaborates. Across the remainder of the South, hot, dry weather is promoting fieldwork, including early-season rice harvesting, and rapid crop development, according to USDA.

In its outlook, USDA says scattered showers and thunderstorms will linger in the Southeast, with the heaviest rain likely along the southern Atlantic and central Gulf Coasts. "Meanwhile, showers will accompany a cold front across the Midwest and Northeast, where rainfall could tally 2 to 4 inches from the lower Great Lakes region into New England," USDA continues. However, Midwestern totals will be mostly less than an inch, except for higher amounts in parts of the eastern Corn Belt, according to USDA. "Elsewhere, little or no rain will fall through week's end across the western half of the U.S.," USDA explains. In addition, USDA says heat will persist from the High Plains westward, but a period of much cooler weather will cover the eastern half of the U.S.